Examples Of Decline Of Civilization In The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby was a novel written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book has a wide variety of characters, and settings. The great Gatsby is a captivating classic novel that has been read millions of times from its reveal in 1925. The Great Gatsby is a prime example of a modernistic novel due to its strong examples of Decline in civilization, stream of consciousness, and its lonely alienated individuals.

F. Scott Fitzgerald creates a strong sense of decline of civilization by the vulgar and lavish parties. During the party in Tom’s hotel room some of the participants of the party were drinking or on drugs. The drinking and drugs represent the corruption and lack of control of a Failing civilization. The lack of control caused by the …show more content…

Tom has a constant affair with Myrtle while she is also married. They both promised their love to another partner, but they broke this promise by having an affair with each other. The breaking of this promise shows the total lack of morals these characters possess, and when society lacks morals it begins to decline. Tom having an affair is also ironic because he reads books about a failing civilization and doesn’t see that he is helping society fail with his affair. Also when Tom discovers that Gatsby and Daisy may be having an affair he is outraged, even though he has had an affair for a very long time. This shows how Tom is very close-minded and unable to see the full truth. Being close-minded stops the progress of the human civilization and creates the path for the declination of …show more content…

The Valley of Ashes is a barren wasteland in between the East and West Eggs caused from factories not caring about where the waste went. The factories strived for wealth and power while having no regards of the environment and the people in it. The people in the east and west egg view this place as vulgar and unlivable, but they caused the Valley of Ashes by building their extravagant houses and loaning money to the factories. Most of the people in the valley of ashes act hopeless. This sense of hopelessness creates a decline in civilization because they do not strive to better themselves and get out of the Valley of

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